Nation

IO in Anwar sodomy case denied entry into Malaysian Bar

KUALA LUMPUR: Jude Blacious Pereira, who was the investigating officer in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy case, has failed in his bid to be admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.

High Court judge Zaleha Yusof on Wednesday allowed an objection by the Bar Council to refuse his petition to be admitted to the Malaysian Bar.

Justice Zaleha made the order in chambers after ruling that there was basis in the objection.

She held that Judy Blacious, also known as Jude, was not a fit and proper person to be admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya, the Bar's lawyer Pavendeep Singh told reporters here.

"She (Justice Zaleha) made a consequential order that the admission petition filed by the petitioner be struck off. This means that he cannot practise as a lawyer," he said.

The Bar's lead counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said the council objected because the Suhakam inquiry panel, with regard to the arrest of five lawyers at the precincts of Brickfields police station on May 7, 2009, had concluded that Jude was not a credible witness.

The Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) had on April 23, 2010 held that the arrest and detention of five Legal Aid Centre lawyers when they assisted their clients involved in an illegal assembly in 2009 was a clear violation of human rights.

The lawyers were not present at the scene to participate in the cause of their clients, but were simply performing their duties as legal practitioners in defence of the 14 people arrested,said Suhakam in a 42-page decision read out by its then chairman Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Malik said that the Bar Council was entitled and duty bound to object when circumstances warrant, as it served not only the legal profession but also the wider society.

"The Court's duty in situations like this is to ensure that the admission of the petitioner concerned would not have adverse impact on the profession as well as the community," he said.

Malik added that "the court has to see whether the petitioner had a high standard of honesty and integrity".

Jude, who has retired from the police force as Superintendent, had filed his petition for admission to be a lawyer on July 23, 2012.

The Bar filed its objection on March 15 last year on grounds that he was not a fit and proper person for the admission to the Bar under the Legal Profession Act 1976.

In the court papers, the Bar Council stated that Jude had sat for its Ethics and Professional Standards course and examination on March 13 and 14 last year and had failed the examination.

The Bar Council had on June 6, last year served a caveat to him against his admission.